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The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds (Review)

Platform: Nintendo 3DS

There are quite a few games I would like to see resurrected
or have a sequel from the 8/16-bit era. Chrono Trigger, Blaster Master, Ninja
Gaiden (NES storyline and gameplay, please), Final Fantasy VI, Actraiser… All
of these games, in my opinion, deserve some kind of new, modern game that pays
homage to their predecessors. There are probably millions of people out there
who never played Actraiser, so they have no idea how great that game was. People
have been clamoring for a Chrono sequel since Chrono Cross, and I fear that
people may eventually forget about the series altogether if a new entry doesn’t
get released anytime soon. A modern day outing would be a perfect way to expose
gamers to classic games, while giving all of us that played them originally a
way to relive the past.
Lucky for us, one of the greatest games of all time - The Legend of Zelda: A
Link to The Past - has just gotten a sequel in A Link Between Worlds for the
Nintendo 3DS.I’ve got to say, I didn’t
see this one coming. The question is, “does it live up to the original?”
Find out in my review… which just happens to be after the jump!

Breakdown:

Story: 10/10
The basic story in The Legend of Zelda has always been pretty simplistic, but never
“great.” Go ahead and flame me. I’ll wait.

Finished? Good.

While it’s never been an involving story, it HAS been an extremely interesting
concept with multiple games helping to produce a VERY involved mythology. With
the recent publishing of the Hyrule Historia hardcover book from Dark Horse
Publishing, LOZ fans have finally gotten a handle on how all the games connect
and feed off one another (though it’s still somewhat convoluted in a few areas).
The basic concept is a princess named Zelda (always a descendant of the
original Zelda) is captured by the evil Ganon and a young kid named Link
(always a descendant of the original Link) has to save her by traversing the
land of Hyrule and gathering pieces of a thing called “the Triforce.” There
have been a few games in the series which mixed this formula up (The Adventure
of Link and Wind Waker being notable entries), but this is usually the
standard. In all fairness, A Link to The Past was no different, only it was, in
my opinion, the best executed Zelda title even today.

A Link Between Worlds might, at first glance, seem like a
direct sequel to ALTTP, but it’s not. Again, we are dealing with ANOTHER Link
and ANOTHER Zelda, only this time it seems as though this takes place a
generation or two after ALTTP. Hopefully, Nintendo will give us some exact idea
of where this one fits in the timeline.
While I won’t go into details out of fear of spoiling the game, the story takes
the same exact steps to get to its conclusion as the game it’s based off of. From
a nostalgic point-of-view, this is great, but from a person wanting a true
sequel to the original story it may not be entirely satisfying. At times, the
game feels more like a modernized remake than the next chapter in a larger
tale. Not that this is necessarily a bad thing, but it is noticeable and, in my
opinion, worth mentioning.

That's what I'm talkin' about! Classic Zelda action!

Visuals: 10/10So far, this is the best looking game I’ve seen on the 3DS. More than that,
my biggest praise comes from the fact that Nintendo perfectly captured the
atmosphere of ALTTP in a 3D environment. The designers even mostly kept the
layout of the original overworld map from ALTTP, but changed some things around
here and there to make it feel fresh.
(Speaking of 3D, turning the 3D slider all the way up doesn’t really add, nor
take away from the overall effect. For most of my time playing, I left the 3D
turned completely off.)

Sound: 10/10A Link to The Past had some of the best videogame music from the 16-bit
era. ALBW remixes all those familiar tunes, some with new arrangements, in
beautiful sounding, orchestral quality. Some of the themes even got me a little
misty-eyed from pure nostalgia. I was taken right back to those times when I
would spend hours and hours trudging through Hyrule and its Dark World. The new
music introduced like the new villain’s theme is extremely well done, as well.

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Pop yo' self into the wall and you have the game's
very well-designed "gimmick!"

See that crack in the wall?

Gameplay: 10/10If you’ve ever played a game in the Legend of Zelda series, you pretty much
know what to expect in the next entry. The only thing that has really changed
is how you receive items and weapons. Instead of getting a new item upon
completion of a dungeon, ALBW introduces Ravio, a merchant who rents items for
Link to use throughout his adventure. Ravio informs Link that there is a catch
for renting his items, however: if Link falls in battle, Ravio will take all of
his rented items back, forcing Link to re-rent, or buy them for a pretty
expensive price. While this may sound like a troublesome gameplay element, it
actually works quite well and introduces a fun sort of survival element to the
game - you won’t want to die because you won’t want to lose your items. For 800
rupees each, you can purchase the items permanently, but you’ll find yourself
scavenging for money in order to do so. It’s a neat addition to the series
which I hope we see more of in future entries of the series.
The gameplay “hook” for this game is the whole “being able to merge into walls”
thing. Link can now transform himself (because of a bracelet he receives from
Ravio) into a 2D painting which he can use to both navigate dungeons and phase
in and out between Hyrule and Lorule (though let’s be serious here – it’s the
Dark World). I found this to be an extremely interesting gameplay mechanic
because it forces you to think 2, 3, and 4th dimensionally in order to get
around the world.
Also, there’s no ridiculous, hand-holding helper creature this time around. You
play as Link with a sword, shield and items. Nothing else. That’s the way I
like it.

I enjoyed A Link Between Worlds immensely. I’ve enjoyed the
other games in the Zelda series as well, but the franchise always seemed to me
as though it lost something after A Link to The Past. That sense of freedom and
exploration was one of the things that intrigued me as a kid when playing the
old NES game, as well as with the Super NES iteration. A Link Between Worlds brings
those elements back to the forefront, offering an amazing experience which puts
itself right under ALTTP for me as the 2nd greatest Zelda game ever
made. While it borders on being a straight-up remake, the game has enough
differences that make it feel like it is its own, separate entity and, even without
the nostalgia factor, A Link Between Worlds holds its place in Zelda greatness.
Is it worth $40? Look at the final score and you’ll see what I think!

Final Score: 10

(It should be noted that this is probably the first game
score on The Inner Dorkdom that has ever gotten a perfect 10. J)